- published: 11 Mar 2016
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Chinese martial arts, also referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu (simplified Chinese: 武术; traditional Chinese: 武術; pinyin: wǔshù) and popularly as kung fu or gung fu (Chinese: 功夫; pinyin: gōngfu), are a number of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" (家, jiā), "sects" (派, pài) or "schools" (門, mén) of martial arts. Examples of such traits include physical exercises involving animal mimicry, or training methods inspired by Chinese philosophies, religions and legends. Styles which focus on qi manipulation are labeled as internal (内家拳, nèijiāquán), while others concentrate on improving muscle and cardiovascular fitness and are labeled external (外家拳, wàijiāquán). Geographical association, as in northern (北拳, běiquán) and southern (南拳, nánquán), is another popular method of categorization.
Kung-fu and wushu are terms that have been borrowed into English to refer to Chinese martial arts. However, the Chinese terms kung fu and wushu listen (Mandarin) (help·info); Cantonese: móuh-seuht) have distinct meanings; the Chinese literal equivalent of "Chinese martial art" would be Zhongguo wushu (Chinese: 中國武術; pinyin: zhōngguó wǔshù).
Li Lianjie ([lì ljǎntɕjɛ̌]; born April 26, 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a naturalized Singaporean film actor, film producer, Chinese martial artist, wushu champion, and international star who was born in Beijing.
After three years of intensive training with Wu Bin, Li won his first national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team. After retiring from Wushu at age 19, he went on to win great acclaim in China as an actor making his debut with the film Shaolin Temple (1982). He went on to star in many critically acclaimed martial arts epic films, most notably the Once Upon A Time In China series, in which he portrayed folk hero Wong Fei-hung.
Li's first role in a Hollywood film was as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), but his first Hollywood film leading role was in Romeo Must Die (2000). He has gone on to star in many Hollywood action films, including Kiss of the Dragon and Unleashed. He co-starred in The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) with Jackie Chan, The Expendables (2010) with Sylvester Stallone, and as the title character villain in The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (2008) opposite Brendan Fraser. He also appeared in the Hong Kong film Ocean Heaven (2010), directed and written by Xue Xiaolu.
Chingmy Yau is a Hong Kong actress who no longer takes part in films although she is not formally retired.[citation needed]
Yau entered the Hong Kong film industry after competing in the 1987 Miss Hong Kong Beauty Pageant.
She was one of the leading actresses in the late 1980s and early 1990s, next to Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin and Cheung Man. Wong cast her in a series of Category III films, though she never appeared nude in any of them. The most notable of these was Naked Killer (1992). During the height of her success, she regularly starred alongside superstars like Jet Li, Stephen Chow, and Ekin Cheng.
In 1999 she married Hong Kong fashion designer Shen Jiawei, founder of Hong Kong-based fashion company I.T. They have three children together.